


Quietly Dreaming

by ThanatosBanshee



Series: Whispering Hollow [1]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Are they really all that different though, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Opposites Attract, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-24 13:40:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThanatosBanshee/pseuds/ThanatosBanshee
Summary: After losing her mom, her job, and then her apartment Drixabella isn't really looking forward to the future.Sebastian doesn't need another friend, he needs a way out of this small town and maybe a cigarette.Two different dreams might be more similar than they seemed.





	1. A Rough Start

**Author's Note:**

> Heads up, lots of cursing!

Prologue 

“Rasmodius.” The purple haired man stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the hospital room and approached the bed. Martin Arthur Collins might be a bitter old man, but he wasn't a fool. He knew of magic and those related things. He knew how the world worked, nothing was fair and better people than him have died before their years were up. As soon as he'd fallen off that ladder he knew he wasn't gonna get up anytime soon, he knew he was going to have to bite the bullet and talk to the man he blamed for his daughter taking her baby and leaving Stardew Valley. 

“Martin.” 

“Don't you ‘Martin’ me you purple buffoon. Do you know where she is or not?” The younger man hesitated but nodded, taking a step closer. “Good. You been watching her grow up then? How old is she now?” 

He eyed the so called wizard. He looked very much the same to Martin’s old eyes. Maybe his beard was a bit more scruffy but it was still that ridiculous purple. He was still the reason his Elizabeth hadn't talked to him in so many years. 

“She's fourteen.” Oh Yoba. Ten years he'd been alone. Ten years he'd been too stubborn, too much of a jackass to try and find his daughter to apologize. He hadn't seen his granddaughter grow past the chubby little three year old he'd been envisioning her as this whole time. The curious toddler with thick dark hair that had an unnatural patch of pink. Damn that wizard. 

“She know about you? You still talk to Beth?” 

A shake of the head. “No.” 

“Good. Good. You keep watching her. And when she hits that point in life, where everything is dim and she doesn't remember the point, you give her this.” A shaky hand held out an envelope and Martin cursed himself for being so weak.

His heart was giving out. If he hadn't fallen off the ladder that day and been taken to the hospital for his broken old bones he probably would have died alone on his farm, ignorant about his own body’s betrayal. 

“You give her this and do what you can to help her. That baby missed out on a life full of people who loved her and it's your damn fault.” The man looked down at the floor and Martin was appeased to see he understood his mistake. “It's both our damn faults. I shouldn't. I shouldn't have blamed her for what happened between her and Caroline, for having a baby outside of marriage. Blame piled on guilt drove my girls away and I can't do anything about it now except give her something to save her from that damn city.” 

“I'm sor-” 

“It's not me you need to apologize to. I shoulda just kicked your ass back then so you stayed away from my daughter. But then we wouldn't have little Bella. So your ass is safe. Just leave. Go watch over her, give her my gift. Leave me to rest.” Rasmodius slipped the envelope into one of the many pockets in his stupid jacket and Martin watched him turn and walk back into the shadows. Damn wizards.

He picked up the picture frame from the stiff hospital bed sheets and smiled at the two girls laughing back at him. Elizabeth looked so much like his late wife and Drixabella looked just like her even as a chubby baby. She was small as a baby and small for her age as she started walking, but that little girl was a tiny package of mischief and curiosity. Just like her mom. That sense of wonder and need for adventure was probably what drew Beth into the woods. 

And it was his lack of understanding, his undeserved rage that drove her away. For ten years he lived as an old fool but damn whatever gods are out there, he ain't gonna die that way. 

He was gonna die alone in this hospital bed, letting go of the biggest mistake he ever made. 

When he was nothing but dust amongst the stars he'd watch over his daughter and that chubby little baby. He'd watch her grow, and hopefully when the time came he could watch her thrive in the same little valley he called home. 

And it wouldn't matter if she were just like her mother because he understood now that there was nothing wrong with what his little girl did. How could he damn her for falling in love? How could he blame her for being so enchanted by magic? By the forest and the trees and the things that lived there? Why was he even angry that day? Angry enough to say he wished his grandbaby did exist. Martin Arthur Collins was an old fool and he hoped one day his little girl forgave him. 

The last thing he thought of before he finally fell into that eternal sleep was that not even Yoba himself would be able to stand between him and the ass beating Katheryn Collins would deliver to him when he joined her in the stars. 

 

Chapter One

“Aw, shit.”

“FIRED. I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE THIS MESS. SOMEONE CATCH THAT DAMN PIG.” 

Drixabella Collins slowly banged her head against the metal doorframe she was stuck in. The office floor was chaotic with what looked like twenty pigs of various sizes running free. The floor manager was red in the face as he yelled at the two custodians and quite a few interns from the top of a desk as they chasing after the squealing animals. 

“COLLINS THIS IS THE LAST YOBA BE DAMNED STRAW. HOW DID YOU GET THESE FUCKING PIGS IN HERE.” 

Truth be told this wasn't even her doing but holy fuck did she want to meet the mastermind and shake their hand. What a fucking coincidence too that she was just thinking about how she'd like nothing more than to shove her pig of a boss into a dump truck when she opened the office supply closet, unknowingly releasing the stampede of pigs. 

“YOU'RE FUCKING FIRED.” 

Fuck Joba and their no clocks on the work floor policy. Taking the small pocket watch on a chain out from her blouse where it hung next to her inhaler she glanced at the time. It was just after ten in the morning, maybe she'd be able to make it in time for the end. As she hurried to her desk through the surprisingly easy to part sea of pigs she grabbed her purse and her jacket and half ran to the elevator. 

If she was fired it wasn't really her job to help chase pigs now was it?

~ 

The cemetery was empty except for her and the two men who were working on filling the new grave and fixing the grass. Drixabella stood a little bit away, watching as they finished up. Last official day of winter before spring arrived and the dark clouds that covered the sky promising rain were only appropriate. 

She'd missed her mother's funeral because she was afraid of getting fired. And look how far that got her. Still fired. Still without mom. And as the men walked away, dirt and grass in place on top of the grave she was alone. Here she was. All. Alone. 

It didn't take long for the tears to start. “Hey Mom.” She choked out. Drixy felt her tights rip at the knees as she knelt in the grass next to the small head stone. “Got fired today. Isn't that funny?” Gently touching her mom's name carved into the pretty marble she tried to remember her laugh. Everyone always said they sounded exactly the same when they laughed but fuck when was the last time either of them had? 

Maybe last year. Before the visit to the doctor. Around mom's birthday in the fall maybe. Before she became so… complacent. Tracing the letters in the name as tears continued their trails down her cheeks she thought about all the things that made Elizabeth Moira Collins who she was. 

There was so much. How obnoxiously loud she sang while cooking in their small apartment. On purpose too, to wake Drixabella up or to piss off the neighbors who rattled the thin walls with their fights. Mom loved the sun. Laying in it outside or sitting in a window just right to capture the last bit of daylight. Her cooking. Mom taught her everything she knew and loved about making food and just thinking of cooking and baking and eating food with her mother made her sob. 

Drixabella fell over onto her ass, cursing rapidly as she ripped her skirt up the side so she could sit more comfortably. Mom never cared that her daughter swore like a sailor. She'd always laugh in that way that felt like the sun and say something dorky about how cursing was just another way of expressing emotions. Mom loved words, she loved listening to people talk. Being a good listener was another thing Drixabella got from her. Mom could half listen to strangers on the subway and come home to tell Drixy about the life of some random ass person that neither of them would see again. 

Which was funny because both of them had no issue remembering what someone told them but forgot everything else as soon as they turned around. Dates, projects, books, cups of whatever all left forgotten but never a story. 

“You'll laugh at this one okay? I got fired because someone put a bunch of pigs in the supply closet.” Drixabella said to the empty cemetery. The last time she saw her mom, oh Yoba. Mom had seemed so small in the hospital bed. The year of cancer treatments to try and shrink the tumors in her lungs to a size they could be operated on was just. So fucking hard on her. They cried together when mom needed to shave her head so she wouldn't have to watch her hair fall out. They cried together every single fucking time mom spent all night throwing up in their small apartment bathroom. 

And the last fucking time she saw her mother she'd said the dumbest thing. Mom had been talking about the place she'd grown up, on grandpa’s farm. She never talked about it, it always made her too sad. But she was telling Drixabella stories of the community and the people she grew up with and the events the town would throw every year for the different seasons. Something about jellyfish coming to the beach. And Drixabella remembered it. She remembered saying, ‘do jellyfish even have brains? How do they know where to go?’ and mom laughed. That was the last time she heard her laugh. An hour before she died. 

It was a weak laugh, nothing like the full loud exclamation of joy it used to be. But that weak laugh was the one that she tired herself out with. She said “You've always been my funny girl. I'm gonna sleep for a bit, why don't you go get some coffee. Love you Bella.” So Drixy went. Slowly walking down the halls that always smelled like bleach and cherry cough syrup to the coffee machine in the hospital cafeteria. She didn't even like coffee. Drixy preferred hot chocolate. With lots of marshmallows. But she drank coffee every time mom asked her too. Because it took longer to make than the coco, and she knew mom only asked so that Drixy wasn't in the room when she threw up. 

Always considerate. Right up to her last days. Mom didn't have a mean bone in her body. But Drixy did. And as mom got worse and worse Drixy just got meaner and meaner. She'd snap at everyone. Picked fights for dumb reasons. Yesterday she punched a man in a bar near her apartment and broke his nose. She didn't even fucking like alcohol, she just. Needed a reason to scream. Because she was alone. Because mom was gone. Because she hadn't been able to pay rent in awhile, because she worked in an office without windows, surrounded by other people who were just as dead as the people she was surrounded by now. Because the only person in the world who she didn't hate was dying. Because her mom was dead. And the last thing she said to her wasn't I love you, or I'll miss you, or why are you leaving. It was a dumbass question about jellyfish. 

And she still doesn't know the answer. 

~ 

“How was I fucking supposed to know there was a damn close time to the cemetery. People don't just stop dying because they close the gates.” Drixabella grumbled to herself as she made it up the last couple stairs to the third floor of her building. She held her heels in one hand and against her better judgement used the wall as support as she walked down the dirty hallway. Her tights were white when she'd put them on this morning but between the grass stains and the walk home through the city, plus whatever unknown dirt that lived in the stairwell they were. They were really fucking dirty. She felt gross and tired and she was hungry. If she didn't want to smell and look like she bawled her eyes out in the rain tomorrow at work she'd need to- oh yeah. She'd been fired. There was no work tomorrow. Thank Yoba for small favors. 

When she reached her apartment door there was an official looking piece of pink paper taped to her door with thick yellow tape that said ‘EVICTION NOTICE’ across the top. 

Aw, shit. 

Peeling the tape off her door she read the notice in the dim hallway light as she jammed her keys into the lock and wiggled it just the right way to get it unstuck. She had three days to get her shit out of the apartment before the locks were changed. This was just fuckin’ peachy. 

Drixy opened the creaky apartment door and froze. The door had been locked but walking into her kitchen every candle she seemed to own, which was probably an embarrassingly unnecessary amount, seemed to be lit on the table. She tried flicking on the lights but there was still no power. This entire floor for whatever reason hadn't had lights for the past month and suddenly the lack of a responsible landlord was more of a concern than before. 

Pulling her phone from her backpack she cursed under her breath when she realized she hadn't been at work long enough today to secretly charge it under her desk. If there was a serial killer or a stalker in her apartment she was fucked. 

The door slammed behind her and she jumped, clutching the inhaler around her neck to her chest as fear set in. Oh Yoba all the horror movies she's ever watched said she was about to die. Oh whatever other gods were out there what the fu-

“You were not present for your mother’s funeral.” 

Drixabella’s eyes found him as soon as he spoke. He seemed to have just appeared out of thin air, standing in the corner of the kitchen next to all the candles. What was probably a second felt like ten minutes as they stared at each other. And then Drixy’s brain finally put together the situation. 

The scream that ripped from her throat probably woke up the god of the dead and at least half her neighbors. Chucking her backpack across the tiny kitchen she nearly beamed him in the face and was already looking at something else to throw. Still screaming she played keep away as he tried to walk around the lopsided kitchen table, always staying on the opposite side. 

The candles fizzled out as she threw them at him one by one. He was dodging them easily with only slight movements. His facial expression didn't change after the first couple but after one hit managed to thump against his shoulder he seemed annoyed. 

“Drixabella cease this at once.” 

Her chest felt tight and her breath was coming out in short pants. “Who the fuck are you?!”

“Drix-” Another candle launched in his direction.

“Get out!” 

“Drixa-” They circled the table again. Drixy was quickly running out of candles. 

“Stop this childish behavior!”

“You picked the wrong day to fuck with me asshole!” The tightening in her chest had become a fierce burning. She used her inhaler when he stopped circling the table. 

He used the momentary silence to say, “Drixabella. I am your father.” 

She stared at him for a whole two seconds before picking up another candle and launching it at him. “I've seen Battle Galaxies before asshole! Get away from me!”

With a scream of rage she chucked another candle. The burglar/stalker/serial killer slammed his hands down on the table and the candles on the floor plus the rest on the table started to float. Drixy’s breath caught in her throat and she started to cough, the fear and the screaming doing nothing to help her inhaler do its job. 

She had to be dreaming right? She fell asleep in the cemetery and is dreaming that there was a man in her apartment claiming to be her father and levitating stuff. The candles glided down to the table and lit themselves again. 

This is too much. 

Another shuddering breath with the help of her inhaler she grabbed a candle and glared at him. But she didn't throw it. Something in the back of her brain was telling her to listen to him, but she was prepared for serial killer actions. With her candle. Oh Yoba she was gonna die wasn't she. 

“I was… friends. With your mother. She asked me to tell you who I was. And your grandfather asked me to give this to you.” The man slid an envelope across the table to her. It had a fancy purple wax seal on it and when she opened it the handwriting was awful. Shaky chicken scratch spelled out her full name, which was a shock by itself. Nobody knew her middle name and it was a secret she was determined to take to the damn grave. 

He wasn't lying. It was a letter from her grandfather, three pages of memories from when her and her mother lived with him. Drixy only sort of remembered one of the things he talked about. It wasn't even really a full memory, kind of just a picture in her head of her mother holding her up to a blueberry bush. The last page explained that he was giving her his farm, because once upon a time moving to Stardew Valley saved his life and he hoped she found the same healing he did. The initials on the bottom were the same ones carved into the back of the pocket watch on her necklace. 

After everything else that has happened today Drixy just. Broke. Falling into a chair she let the paper flutter to the table. She kept getting reminders that she was all alone and it was only day one. After crying all day she was surprised to feel tears could actually still come out of her eyes. 

“There are two bus tickets to Pelican Town in here.” Drixy looked up at his words. She'd honestly forgotten he was there. 

“What?” 

“I will assist you in moving your things to the farm house.” 

“Wha-”

“I will see you in two days.” He walked to the front door, his long coat swirling. He opened the door to a frantic Melody and with a flick of his wrist the lights came on. Then he was gone. 

Melody rushed in like she hadn't even seen him and started checking Drixy for injuries. “What's wrong are you hurt I could hear your screaming from down the hall scared the fuck out of me ar-” 

“Melody.”

“You okay you seem fine I didn't see you at mom's funeral I'm so sorry you had to work that bastard manager-”

“Melody.” 

“I'd like to really give him a piece of my mind- oh what's this?” Drixy handed her best friend the bus tickets and the last page of her grandfather’s letter. Once Melody really got going her mouth just didn't stop. It was best to distract her with something shiny. “Bus tickets? Where the hell is Pelican Town? I didn't even know you had a grandpa.”

“Everyone has one.”

“Okay smartass but yours liked you enough to give you a house.” 

“We can leave.”

“What?” 

“Melody we can leave.” Melody’s look of confusion only lasted for another second before her bright smile came out. She grabbed Drixy’s hands and pulled her to her feet, spinning in circles like they were five years old. 

“We can leave! We're leaving the city! Fuck you Joja! Fuck you!” Drixy started laughing through her tears. Melody started singing a song about ordering pizza and setting the Joja offices on fire while Drixy sat down again. 

Would mom be happy if she left Zuzu? In the last weeks of her life mom talked about Stardew Valley and all the people she knew in Pelican Town. Mom seemed so happy talking about them. And wait. She talked to Drixy’s dad? What the hell was that about? 

Life was about to get a lot more interesting that's for sure.


	2. A Brief Glance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our two characters almost meet but not quite.

Sebastian glared against the bright spring sunlight as he made his way to the lake thirty minutes away from his house. He usually didn't like to leave the house in the spring and summer while the sun was still out so he could avoid the heat but holy shit. The house was so fucking suffocating sometimes. He couldn't do shit without getting berated or ridiculed. Mom had asked him to tell Maru that the load of laundry that had been in the dryer was now in her room. All he had to do was relay a simple message to his little sister for his mom so she wasn't late to her aerobics class. But of fucking course as soon as he went to knock on Maru’s door Demetrius appeared out of nowhere to lecture him about disturbing Maru and don't even think about wasting her time on something meaningless. 

Fine. When Maru goes looking for her clothes later, wasting her oh so precious time, it wouldn't be his fault. Ridiculous that he can't even talk to his little sister in their own fucking house. 

So there he was. Going to his spot at the water's edge to smoke and think about the Zuzu skyline. Sulking like a fucking teenager. That's embarrassing. 

Sebastian hated that it didn't take that much for his step-dad to piss him off. Nobody else managed to set him off like that. And it wasn't like he enjoyed arguing with the guy. It pissed his mom off to no end and made Sebastian seem like a dick. Dumb as hell. 

Picking up a mostly flat stone he threw it at the lake. It only skipped a couple times before sinking. 

Taking a long drag off his cigarette he looked up at the sunlight peeking through the heavy canopy of the mountain trees. This was his favorite view in winter, just staring up at the green pine needles covered in powdery snow with the hazy sunlight trying to find its way to the ground. The snow muted the world and seemed to slow it down to a much more comfortable pace. Everything is so loud and fast in spring, the birds, the lake, the people. That tranquil quiet in fall and winter was what he wanted. Not this warm bullshit. 

Speaking of being loud…

Sebastian turned just in time to see the girl appear from behind a tree. She was talking to herself about being lost. Stupid camping tourists. The nearest campsite wasn't anywhere close to this lake, if she was lost she'd managed to get lost in the completely wrong direction. She looked rough too. There were leaves in her hair and a large rip in the knee of her bleach white skinny jeans. The edge of the rip was stained green from a grass stain and it looked like she managed to skin her knee. 

What kind of idiot wore white when they went camping. That was like asking for the universe to fuck them. 

The leather jacket she was wearing looked way too warm to be wearing if the sweat he could see on her face was any indication. And her lipstick was smudged. What a mess. 

He thought about calling out to ask her if she needed help for half a second and then she was through some more trees and gone. She seemed like she was in a pissy mood anyways, he didn't want to deal with some stranger’s attitude. She was heading in the general direction of town. She'd be fine. 

Flicking the ashes off the end of his cigarette he turned back to the lake and forgot about the lost camper already. There was a particular bit of code he was working on that was giving him some trouble, which was much more important. Putting everything else but the numbers he needed in the back of his head so he could concentrate he tried to look at the problem from a new angle. 

Like a light bulb turning on the answer blinked into his head. Snubbing out his cigarette on the bottom on his shoe he shoved the butt into a pocket so he could throw it away at home and turned around to make his way back down the trail. He might come back out again tonight when the sun goes down but for right now it was too sunny out and he needed to get back to input the new line he had in his head. 

He knew himself though, he wasn't going to stop working on this problem until he fixed it completely. This job meant he was just that much closer to his dream of Zuzu city and he was determined to make it a reality. 

Sebastian wasn't going to be stuck here forever, biting his tongue and feeling inadequate. He was paving the way towards his future. 

One line of code at a time.

***

If Drixy saw that purple bastard ever again she might have to strangle him. Jerking her sweater from where a bush had reached out and snagged it for what felt like the millionth time she nearly dropped her jacket she was now holding. 

Honestly this week was quickly shaping up to be the final snapping point before she gave up all hope. She wasn't sure what she was expecting when she was given a farm but a property covered in grass taller than she was in some places, rocks, logs, fallen branches and a pond filled with garbage was probably the last thing anyone pictured when someone said the word farm. 

That wasn't the worst part though. Obviously this entire thing was going to be hard work, Drixy wasn't an idiot. Running a farm and actually growing things well enough to turn profit was probably going to be the end of her. The worst part wasn't even spending most of the day hauling rocks and branches into separate piles to start the clean up. That was fine. Someone had to do it right? Right. And that someone was her and her alone until Melody’s lease ended in fall. Easy peasy.

The part that had turned her homicidal was when she stepped inside the huge farmhouse and went to take a shower to discover a fancy little blue note on the tub, saying “Lewis has the keys to the basement.” Who cares, she thought. She didn't need to go to the basement today right? Wrong. 

When she turned the knobs, nothing happened. And it clicked. The stuff that controlled the water in the house was probably in the basement wasn't it. Fuck.

Another look at the note and “head east to town” had appeared. Oh good. Drixy gets to go into town sweaty and covered in grass stains and tree sap. 

Which is finally where she was. It took three more hours wandering through a forest for her to find her way to town. Doesn't take a genius to figure out she actually had no idea what east meant and she'd picked the wrong direction because of course she had. 

She was so tired. Rocks were so heavy and jumping into it like she had obviously wasn't the best plan of action. Melody was going to laugh her ass off when Drixy called her later. And she still had no idea where she was going or how to get back to the dusty place she now called home. 

Her knee hurt too. There was this big tree next to the trash pond near the house and she'd tripped over a hidden root before she left. Ripping her pants and her knee open in one go. Smooth Drixy, real smooth. At least she'd been wearing her combat boots. With her luck at this point she probably would have broken her toe too. Genius. 

“Sweetheart you okay?” Drixy collided with someone and they put their hands on her shoulders to steady her. A woman with thick brown hair captured in a braid stood nearly a head over her. There was concern on her face and Drixy thought she looked just like mom in that moment, kind eyes that told you she was being genuine. Ah shit was she about to cry in front of a stranger?

“You look a little lost honey.” Drixy nodded and fished the note out of her pocket to show the nice lady. She knew if she tried to speak she'd probably end up crying. Fuck she just wanted to take a shower and sleep. 

“Lewis is the mayor of our little town. I can show you to his house no problem.” It wasn't like Drixy wasn't going to follow after her. She had no idea where to go and this lady didn't really strike her as serial killer material. The sun was starting to go down now and the street lamps were turning on. As they walked down a cobblestone road Drixy looked at the cute houses and the flower beds around them. The woman introduced herself as Marnie Williams, explaining she lived a bit outside of town on her ranch with her nephew Shane and his goddaughter. Marnie also pointed out all the houses and who lived where and how wonderful it'll be when she got to meet everyone. There was no way she'd be able to remember everything the talkative woman told her. 

Drixy was pretty much the opposite of a people person but she liked Marnie. The lady reminded her of how sunny mom was, and anyone this happy was hard not to like. 

“Here we are!” Marnie said as she knocked on the door of a house they'd walked up to. It looked a bit bigger than most of the other houses in the area. 

A man with a greying mustache opened the door, smiling when he saw Marnie. He leaned casually against the door frame. “Good evening Marnie. You look lovely.” The older woman actually giggled and Drixy resisted the urge to gag. This was like watching old guys hit on her mom at the grocery store. Coughing a very obviously fake cough, she tried not to laugh at the surprise on the man's face when he saw her.

“And who's this? A bit different from your other strays Marnie.” 

“Very funny Lewis. This is…” Marnie turned to her with a troubled frown. “I'm so sorry sweetheart I never asked your name.” 

“I'm.” Drixy cleared her throat when her voice cracked. Oh stars was she tired. “My name is Drixabella Collins. I have papers.” She nearly ripped the folded mess of papers pulling it from her back pocket but when she went to hand them and the note about the basement to him she was a little shocked to see both of them staring at her with their mouths open a bit. What the hell?

Marnie recovered first, clamping her mouth shut and smacking Lewis on the arm to make him do the same. “Martin Collins’ grandbaby?” The nice lady asked. They were both leaning forward a bit like they couldn't wait for her answer. Taking a step back she nodded. 

Marnie had her in a bear hug before Drixy could blink. “Oh I'm so glad you found your way home! You're going to love Stardew Valley!” 

Lewis took the papers still in her outstretched hand, the deed, a copy of her grandfather’s will and the letter he'd written her, looking them over before smiling at her. “Don't choke the poor girl Marnie. Looks like you've been wrestling with that farm all day huh?” Marnie started pulling leaves from Drixy’s hair and all she could do was nod. This day had taken a turn towards the really fucking odd. 

“Let me find those keys and I'll walk you back to the farm.” Lewis disappeared inside again and Marnie turned Drixy to face her. 

“You can come down to the ranch if you ever need anything. Just walk down past the big pond and keep going, you'll find us.” Drixy felt another episode of being lost in the woods was in her future. 

Mr. Lewis came back and shut his door behind him. They waved goodbye to Marnie as they passed the only restaurant and bar in town and continued on the cobblestone walkway. Lewis pointed out the buildings they passed now, a general store and a clinic and some more houses. It was barely thirty minutes later she saw the bus stop she'd arrived at early this morning, which meant the farm was only another ten minutes away. Holy shit had she picked the wrong way to go this afternoon. She could have been in bed hours ago if she knew which way east was. Drixy was going to kill that man. 

It was another thirty minutes of Lewis teaching Drixy how to turn on the water and how to check the water heater before he finally said his goodbyes. 

Finally. She could take a shower. 

Turning on the water she started to strip and think about what to do tomorrow. Lewis had been nice enough to give her a box of seeds but she couldn't really just throw them in the ground and expect them to grow. Plus there wasn't really a place to even throw them. Tomorrow would be another clean up day. Probably a clean up week. She'd start with the pond, get all the trash out of it. That way she could make a bonfire and start burning all the rotten wood she couldn't use in the fireplace without worrying about starting a forest fire. That might take most of the day. 

Drixy’s stomach growled and she banged her knee on the edge of the tub. She'd have to go to the store at some point. There wasn't a lot of money left in her wallet but it's not like she can just not eat. 

Alright. She had a plan. It wasn't super detailed and she still needed to Boogle ‘how do I plant parsnips and cauliflower’ but she was getting there. It was okay. She was okay. 

Stepping into the shower she shrieked.

Why was there no hot water?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look! An update! :D Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm excited to start this project. Hopefully I'll be able to update at least once a week, but I do have another fic I'm working on at the same time! 
> 
> If you have a Stardew Valley blog or you would like to follow me on tumblr, find me! MasamunesMistress :D 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


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